Washington-The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) recently met with representatives from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to discuss data collection efforts related to the recently reinstated Chemical Use Survey. The NASS Chemical Use Survey is the only federal program that monitors pesticide and fertilizer use on U.S. farms. Funding for the survey was reauthorized on Oct. 21 when President Obama signed into law the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010. “The Chemical Use Survey is such a valuable resource,” said TFI President Ford B. West. “We’re pleased that funding has been allocated to resume the data collection that goes into producing the survey and providing the information that is relied upon by so many different audiences.” During the meeting, TFI and IPNI encouraged NASS to incorporate more major commodity crops in the survey on a more frequent basis. “Ideally, TFI would like to see data collection for the statistical survey take place on an annual basis,” said West. TFI and IPNI also discussed adding additional questions to the existing survey relevant to fertilizer use. The budget restores funds to the Agricultural Chemical Use Program, which TFI said collects data that the fertilizer industry can use to determine the efficient use of fertilizer. That program was last fully funded in 2007.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain